sauce

American  

[saws] / sɔs /

noun

1. any preparation, usually liquid or semiliquid, eaten as a gravy or as a relish accompanying food.

2. stewed fruit, often puréed and served as an accompaniment to meat, dessert, or other food.

   cranberry sauce.

3. something that adds piquance or zest.

4. Informal. sauciness; impertinence; impudence.

5. Slang. Usually the sauce hard liquor.

   He's on the sauce again.

6. Archaic. garden vegetables eaten with meat.

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verb (used with object)

sauced, saucing

1. to dress or prepare with sauce; season.

   meat well sauced.

2. to make a sauce of.

   Tomatoes must be sauced while ripe.

3. to give piquance or zest to.

4. to make agreeable or less harsh.

5. Informal. to speak impertinently or saucily to.

sauce British  

/ sɔːs /

noun

1. any liquid or semiliquid preparation eaten with food to enhance its flavour

2. anything that adds piquancy

3. stewed fruit

4. dialect vegetables eaten with meat

5. informal impudent language or behaviour

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verb

1. to prepare (food) with sauce

2. to add zest to

3. to make agreeable or less severe

4. informal to be saucy to

sauce Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing sauce

• hit the bottle (sauce)

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Other Word Forms

• oversauce verb (used with object)
• sauceless adjective

Etymology

Origin of sauce

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin salsa, noun use of feminine of Latin salsus “salted,” past participle of sallere “to salt,” derivative of sāl “salt”; salt ¹

Example Sentences

Powering this rise was Palantir’s secret sauce, the FDE.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026

Then, Maryland-based spice company, McCormick, announced it will merge with Unilever’s food division to create a new spice and sauce mega-company.

From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026

We started with a generous spread of complimentary bread and butter, fresh oysters, and escargot—my wife’s favorite, not mine, though the leftover sauce was perfect for dipping.

From Salon • Mar. 31, 2026

McCormick MKC 2.89%increase; green up pointing triangle has excelled at the former, building a small empire out of Frank’s RedHot, French’s mustard and Cholula hot sauce.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

“I'm putting the hoodoo-hot sauce in the top drawer. You know the food here isn't going to have the taste from home.”

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

Related Words

• dressing
• flavoring
• gravy
• relish